Mayor: Christie's staff held Sandy relief funds hostage

Leader says she was told to support a private development in exchange for aid

10:02 PM,
Jan. 18, 2014

Chris Christie

Written by

William M. Welch
| USA Today

The mayor of Hoboken, N.J., says she was told by top officials in Gov. Chris Christie's administration that she would have to go along with a private development project the governor wanted for her city to receive Hurricane Sandy relief money.

Mayor Dawn Zimmer, a Democrat who had previously supported Christie, a Republican, made the allegation Saturday on MSNBC.

She named Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and Richard Constable, Christie's community affairs commissioner, as the two officials who delivered messages on behalf of the governor, who has seen his 2016 GOP presidential prospects ...